Author: Blake Foster

Now, the pub in Malden Road, Kentish Town reopened in late July under fresh management with a slightly different name and plans for a game room. Rebranded as The Gipsy Queen Tavern, it’s said to be operated by South London pub company Clapham Leisure, which runs a string of coffee shops and pubs south of the river Posting on Instagram they wrote: “Your Neighbourhood pub is back with 23 awesome taps cocktails and great food.”   Sharing a reel of punters enjoying the Lionesses’ Euros win they said: “And we are open! What a first week finishing on a high with the football celebrations! Thanks…

Lorik Lupqi, of St John’s Way, was among of five men found to have murdered two people they mistook for rival gang members. The 21-year-old was convicted in July of murdering 15-year-old Leonardo Reid and 23-year-old Klevi Shekaj and attempting to murder another man. However, footage and images seen by this paper shows how Lupqi has posted on Instagram on the same day as conviction at the Old Bailey. A look at the Instagram account (Image: Instagram) He had been arrested at Luton Airport on November 12 last year, after he illegally travelled to Kosovo days after the murders. According…

Daniel Santana, 40, was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday, July 23. Between October 2021 and March 2022, Santana subjected the woman to sustained abuse, including physical assaults and harassment. He once called her up to 60 times in a row. The victim reported the abuse in January 2025, and Santana, of Croydon, was promptly arrested. Alongside his sentence, Santana was also handed a 20-year restraining order. He has also been recalled to prison to serve the remaining nine years of a previous…

Neil Sullingston, 53, was sentenced on August 1 after being found guilty of manslaughter earlier this week. He drove his car into 36-year-old Wayne Wigley in Esher, Surrey, on the morning of July 1, 2024. Sullingston, of Orpington, was driving to work in his white Seat Ibiza along the A244 when he noticed Mr Wigley riding a moped behind him. The two men had previously been involved in road rage incidents on May 16 and June 5, which Sullingston had reported to police. At around 6.19am on July 1, dashcam and CCTV footage showed Mr Wigley throwing a rock at Sullingston’s…

The site was earmarked for flats before developers brought forward a new scheme, claiming changes to building regulations meant the old one was no longer financially viable. Brent Council’s planning committee has now given the green light to the revised plans for the redevelopment of the Matalan site in Cricklewood Broadway. Councillors voted five to three in favour of approving the scheme, which will see the existing building replaced by two new blocks up to nine storeys high and comprising more than 800 student rooms. Supporters pointed to the benefits of developing a “disused and rundown” brownfield site that would…

It is deeply moving, visually extraordinary and performed with a level of craft that makes everything else feel small by comparison. I came to the show knowing very little. I hadn’t read Michael Morpurgo’s book or seen the film adaptation. I only knew there was a boy, a horse and a war. Within minutes, I was completely absorbed. Directed by Tom Morris and Katie Henry as revival director, this staging follows young Albert and his beloved horse Joey. Then the First World War begins, Joey is sold to the cavalry and shipped off to France. Albert, too young to enlist,…

Home Office statistics show that, at the end of March 2025, there were 198 asylum seekers being supported in Havering – compared to more than 2,000 in some London boroughs. This also represents a drop of 33 from the number recorded at the end of March last year. The vast majority of people (179) supported in Havering at the end of the first quarter were housed in dispersal accommodation, meaning their claim for asylum support has been agreed. READ MORE: ‘Huge shock’ as east London radio station taken over Those staying in dispersal accommodation are allowed to stay there while they remain…

Judge Hodge KC ruled in favour of Gems House Residences, which bought the Marylebone flats for £12.6 million in February 2024, according to Estates Gazette. Westminster City Council had sought an order to keep the Chiltern Street flats as affordable housing and argued a special get-out clause in the original planning permission did not extend to Gems House Residences. The dispute centred on the interpretation of a Section 106 agreement – made between planning authorities and developers – signed in 2013. The agreement contained a “mortgage exclusion clause” which is designed to encourage commercial lending for affordable homes but also…

PureGym has submitted a planning application to Havering Council to convert the former Carpetright store in Southend Arterial Road (A127) into a gym. The proposed development includes a main gym area, studio, free weights area, spin area and functional zone. There would also be changing rooms and shower facilities provided, alongside separate staff areas, and the 37 parking spaces currently on the site would be kept. READ MORE: Flats at former Romford pub ‘breach planning rules’ According to the planning documents, each PureGym site typically creates up to 15 full and part-time jobs for the area. In line with other gyms…

An inquest was opened into his death at East London Coroner’s Court on Thursday morning (August 7).  Mr Owusu’s cousin contacted the police as he had not heard from him for two weeks, coroner’s officer Jean Smyth told coroner Nadia Persaud.  Officers visited his home and spoke to a neighbour, who also said she had not seen Mr Owusu for a few weeks but had seen maggots around his property.  Police forced entry and found Mr Owusu dead in his living room.  His death was treated as non-suspicious but a post-mortem gave his cause of death as unascertained due to the extent…